


A Curious Sound

by KathWritesThings



Category: Doctor Who, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-30
Updated: 2014-01-20
Packaged: 2017-12-16 17:05:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/864453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathWritesThings/pseuds/KathWritesThings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A strange blue box appears in Camelot's forests and not a single person involved can quite understand what is happening...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first (and only, so far) attempt at a crossover fic. This is only the first chapter, there is lots more to come and as always, any comments are appreciated...

It was just a normal patrol, normal day in Camelot, and Merlin and Arthur were on their way back to the city, teasing each other incessantly as per usual, when an odd sound met their ears. It was like nothing either of them had ever heard before, a sort of metallic whooshing sound, crossed with a tortured clunking. It wasn’t magical, Merlin could tell, but it was certainly nothing natural.

            “What the hell is that?!” Arthur yelled, confused, drawing his sword and jumping off his horse as the sound became even louder, yet looking around, neither of them could see anything.

            “I have no idea…” Merlin muttered, also jumping off and following Arthur into the forest.

            The odd sound was getting increasingly louder, but still neither of them saw anything out of the ordinary around them. Arthur rounded a group of tree cautiously, indicating for Merlin to be quiet and follow him. They moved towards where the noise seemed to be coming from, Arthur with his sword at the ready and Merlin the same with his magic. But all of a sudden, the sound stopped and everything was quiet. Arthur looked alarmed, both of them totally confused. Once again he indicated for total silence and as they rounded another group of trees that the noise had been coming from, they found what must have been the source of it. Neither of them had known what to expect, but this certainly was not it.

            “What on earth…” Arthur murmured, for once at a total loss for what to say or do in this situation.

            A large, dark blue box was planted in the gap between trees. Where it had come from, they did not know as they had rode through that area only moments ago and it certainly had not been there then. The box was taller then either of them and large enough to fit one or perhaps two people inside of it. It had doors and the top of sloped up like some sort of roof and… oddly enough there was some sort of spherical glass object right at the top. The whole thing looked like it was made of wood, but why on earth would someone make a large blue box out of wood? Why would someone make any kind of box? And why would it suddenly appear in Camelot? Arthur’s first thought was that it was some kind of magic, but it was nothing that Merlin had ever seen or heard of before. This was no sorcery, it couldn’t be, Merlin would sense it, so he was even more clueless than Arthur on the matter. There was a sign on the front and Merlin squinted, trying to read it, but it was no familiar words. “Po…lice…tel…ef…one?” What is that supposed to mean?!” He wondered out loud, “What is this thing even supposed to be?!”

            “I don’t know….” Arthur responded warily, twirling his sword, “All I know is that nothing good just appears out of thin air!” He took up a fighting stance, prepared to deal with this the only way he knew how, although Merlin didn’t think it was such a good idea.

            “Arthur…” he warned protectively

            “It’s alright, Merlin,” Arthur reassured him, “Nothing bad is going to happen.”

            “But we don’t even know what it is1” Merlin protested, “Maybe we should figure that out before attacking it with a sword!”

            Arthur wouldn’t listen and took two steps closer to the…thing. But before he could swing the sword down, one of the doors swung open and two figures stepped out. “Oi! No stabbing my box!” one of them, the man, yelled at Arthur, much to both of their shock.

            The man was rather odd looking. His dark hair was all scruffed up and he had some odd sort of bow around his neck. Overall he was just… ragged and odd-looking. There was absolutely know way he was from anywhere near Camelot, that was for certain, though they were highly befuddles and suspicious about where this man had actually come from.

            “How dare you speak to me like that! I’m King of this land, you should show me some respect!” Arthur glared at the man, not lowering his sword. Neither the man nor the lady seemed intimidated by this though.

            “Eh? King? You can’t be much older than I am! No way you’re a King!” the man’s companion spoke for the first time. Her voice was confused- she seemed to be completely oblivious to who Arthur actually was and her words proved it- no one in their right mind would speak to King Arthur like that. The man himself certainly agreed. He strode forward until his sword was almost at the girl’s throat, backed up against the box, and she looked instantly terrified.

            “What did you just say?” Arthur growled. If there was anything that angered Arthur, it was his pride being insulted.

            “Leave her alone!” The man bellowed, his voice full of power and anger. Enough power to shock Arthur, who turned to the man, lowering his sword in surprise. The man seized the opportunity and pulled the girl away from Arthur, keeping her behind him protectively and lovingly, making sure she was okay before turning back to Arthur with storms in his eyes. “Listen to me. I have no quarrel with you-“ he glanced quickly from Arthur to Merlin, “-either of you-” his attentions focussed back on Arthur, “but harm my friend, or my Tardis, and I will. And believe you me, I am the one person in the universe you absolutely do not want to fall out with.”

            “Is that a threat?” Arthur wasn’t easily intimidated, despite this man being blatantly furious, sword back at the ready.

            “No.” the man stated simply. “That’s a promise.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Who even are you?” Arthur demanded, “Some kind of sorcerer?!”

            “No. I’m not a sorcerer.” The man said, frowning, making the mere idea sound entirely absurd.

“Explain yourself!” Arthur demanded again, extending his sword.

            “Put down that piece of metal and maybe I will. I don’t like swords; they’re almost as bad as guns.” There truly was something odd about this man. Anyone else trying to boss the kind around would just sound foolish but this man had power and sounded far older and wiser than he looked.

            Arthur narrowed his eyes at the odd man but did indeed place his sword back in its holster.

            “Doctor,” The girl spoke quietly, addressing only the man, “This might not be the time, but I don’t think we’re in Shakespearean London… Where _are_ we?”

            “Good question,” he responded quietly to the girl, with the edges of a grin playing up at the side of his mouth. He then proceeded to pull out an odd metal object, pressed a button that made it glow green and waved it around like a madman.

            Arthur freaked out. “What is that thing?!” He yelled, seeming to think it was some sort of weapon, “Get behind me!” he said to Merlin and immediately re-drew his sword.

            “Relax, it’s just a screwdriver…” The man mumbled, not particularly paying attention to Arthur and Merlin, but instead looking around inquisitively and squinting his eyes at the glowing object, the… screwdriver. Of course, such an unfamiliar word made the already suspicious King increasingly anxious, but before he could do anything, Merlin stepped forwards.

            “I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding here…” he insisted, just trying to keep the peace.

            “I don’t think so.” Arthur responded stubbornly, eyes narrowed at the strange man before him.

            “Arthur…”

            The girl’s eyes widened as she spoke in surprise, “Arthur? King Arthur?” but no one was paying even the slightest bit of attention her at that moment.

            “Listen to me, Merlin-!”Arthur insisted, getting Merlin’s attention but also that of the peculiar people in front of them. The man practically dropped his… ‘screwdriver’ in shock, while the girl’s eyes grew even wider.

            “King Arthur?!” She exclaimed, “And Merlin? The wiza-”

            “Clara!” The man interrupted loudly. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

            The girl, Clara, nodded confusedly and they both walked around to the other side of the box, leaving an even more confused Arthur and Merlin by themselves.

            “Did she… did she just say you were a wizard?” Arthur said in disbelief, “Where would she get a ridiculous notion like that?!”

            Merlin shrugged innocently, “I have no idea. None of this makes any sense,” he quickly changed the subject, “What are we going to do?”

            “Well I have no idea what _you’re_ going to do, Merlin, but I’m going to make the explain themselves.” Arthur spoke decisively for the first time since hearing the curious noise that led them to this scenario, driving the tip of his sword into the ground with evident frustration. And that girl? Why had she reacted that way upon learning their names? This was some odd kind of mystery that neither of them could think up any explanation, plausible or not, for.

            “But what if they don’t? They haven’t seemed very keen to explain anything so far…”

            “Then we’ll bring them back to Camelot and I’ll figure out what to do with them there.” Merlin wasn’t sure how well this plan was going to play out, but he knew Arthur well enough and long enough to know that this tone mean that there would be no changing his mind at this point.

            Out of earshot of the King and his servant, the man spoke urgently to his companion. “Clara, the readings from my screwdriver say we’re in Medieval Camelot…” he glanced at the screwdriver, “Twelfth century, 1124 to be precise… oh! And it’s a Tuesday!”

            “But Doctor, how is that possible? Camelot isn’t real, magic isn’t real! It can’t be! It’s just a legend, it never happened… right?”

            The ‘Doctor’, as Clara called the man, chuckle slightly. “Oh Clara… you’ve been to other planets, the future  and the past, and our friend is a lizard lady with a human wife and a sontaron butler. But magic can’t be real?!” Clara shrugged acceptingly, but still rather confused, so the Doctor took the liberty of clarifying to her. “It may be a legend, but all storied have to start somewhere. Over time they may become warped, changed to fit other ideas. But fundamentally, those legends are history. So yes, that is actually King Arthur, a young King Arthur and yes, that is actually Merlin. Obviously we know who he is, or rather, at this point, who he will become, but this Arthur has no idea and if he finds out before he’s meant to, before he’s ready to, everything could fall apart. You can’t say anything about what you know, understand?”

            Clara nodded, taking it all in, “Okay… but wait, if this if the twelfth century, how do we tell them how we got here? You heard Arthur, he wants an explanation!”

            “We…um…” he hopped from one foot to another, thinking energetically. “We lie!” He finally decided, jumping to a stop. Clara looked sceptical. “Well do you think they’d actually believe us if we told the truth? Besides, they’d probably try to kill us anyways…” he added dismissively, “so we don’t really want that…”

            “Well then what do we say that _won’t_ get us killed?”

            “…anything other than alien time travel…” the Doctor offered up, much to Clara’s blatant disapproval. “Well why do I always have to think of these things?! You think of something!”

            “Um…well…”

“See! Difficult, isn’t it!”

“Okay, well forgetting that for a second, what exactly are we going to do here if we’re not meant to interfere?”

“Oh, you know, run around, try not to get killed…”

“The usual then!” Clara finished the sentence enthusiastically.

The Doctor nodded approvingly, “Quite right! You’re going to have to change though; walking into a Medieval city with your knees on show… you might start some kind of riot… I think you may have already caught the attention of a certain King…”

Clara’s eyes widened and her cheeks reddened in embarrassment, “Right…! I will do that right now then…” She hurried back to the Tardis, the Doctor closely following her around to the other side where Merlin and Arthur were waiting.

Arthur once again brandished his sword as they cam into sight, “What are you doing?” he asked cagily  as Clara opened the Tardis door. “Are you trying to escape?”

“Look, I’ll just be five minutes, alright!” Clara insisted and shut the door behind her leaving the Doctor outside with Merlin and a rather un-bemused King Arthur.

“Are you going to explain what is going on here?” Arthur demanded aggressively, sword still pointing at them threateningly.

“Fine. I’m a traveller. From very, _very_ far away We don’t mean any harm here but we certainly don’t appreciate having swords pointed at us. I already told you, I don’t like those things.” The Doctor’s eyes narrowed but Arthur didn’t budge.

“Why should I trust you?” He reasoned, speaking suspiciously.

“Another good question. You don’t have to; I wouldn’t really expect you to.” The Doctor retorted back with somewhat of a gleam in his eye.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Doctor.” Arthur frowned at the odd name, but at that moment Clara stepped out of the Tardis once again, wearing a dazzling sapphire dress flowing all the way to her feet. “… and that’s Clara…” the Doctor finished with a small, admiring smile.

The girl’s long brown hair fell below her shoulders in waves, shining in the sunlight that infiltrated the tree tops as she stepped out of the blue box, the door swinging shut behind her.

“Well, you’re both coming back to Camelot with us. I don’t trust anyone who just materialises in the middle of the forest.”

The city wasn’t very far from where they were and the whole time was spent in awkward silence, though Clara kept glancing incredulously at Merlin with amazement and wonder sparkling in her eye, much to Merlin’s complete obliviousness, the Doctor’s nagging worry that she was going to let something slip or say something she shouldn’t, and Arthur’s total dismay, likely the cause of the deep-set frown on his face the whole way back to Camelot.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY that it has taken so long to update this! Unfortunately this chapter is quite short and I found it quite difficult to write as it's mostly just to move the story along. The next update will be much quicker/better I promise! Thank you to everyone to reading/sticking with this, hope you enjoy it!  
> 

Percival met the small crowd in front of the castle steps when they returned to the city centre. “So, who are the new people?” he asked Merlin curiously as he aided him with the horses.

“We found them in the forest…” Merlin started, but Arthur overheard and spoke up harshly.

“They’re trespassers. You need to lock them in the prisons. At least until I can figure out what to do with them.”

Merlin sighed, increasingly exasperated. “Arthur, are you really going to lock them up? He explained himself and-”

“Shut up, Merlin! It’s not your place to question me!” Arthur snapped, infuriated.

Clara jumped down from the horse with Percival’s help, and got involved daringly. “You know, for a King, you’re kind of a prat.” She observed matter-of-factly.

Arthur’s eyes widened. He was in total disbelief of what he just heard. No one ever spoke to him like that, well, expect for Merlin. But that was _Merlin._  That was just how he was, and he was no stranger. “What did you just call me?!”

Of course, Merlin just chuckled at Clara’s accusation, causing Clara to beam at him, which just irritated Arthur even more. “Just take them to the jail, Percival. Lock them up separately.” he ordered bleakly and Merlin’s face fell. He looked pleadingly at Percival who just shrugged helplessly and apologetically as he led Clara and the Doctor away to the jail under the castle. Merlin ran up the steps after Arthur, desperate to convince him to change his mind.

By the time Merlin had reached Arthur’s chambers and burst in unannounced, Arthur was already there and starting to get changed by himself. “Arthur!” He yelled and Arthur turned to look at him, frowning.

“Are you going to do your job and help me or are you just going to stand there?”

“Arthur! Why would you lock those people up? They haven’t actually done anything, they’re perfectly innocent!”

“Have you forgotten that they insulted and threatened me? Besides, boxes don’t just randomly materialise out of thin air, do they? There’s some kind of sorcery going on here, I’m sure of it…” Arthur was irritated, yet calm and decisive as he spoke, pulling a clean shirt on.

“But you can’t be certain! If they were some kind of evil sorcerers plotting against you, don’t you think they would have done something by now?!”

Arthur titled his head and looked at Merlin oddly suspiciously. “Is this about the girl?”

Merlin’s eyebrows furrowed confusedly, “Huh? What girl?”

“You know, the one you’re trying to free? Do you like her?” Arthur raised his eyebrows teasingly, making a face that Merlin was annoyingly used to by now.

“No!”

“Are you sure?” Arthur reiterated mockingly, a smirk creeping onto his face, turning up at one corner of his mouth.

            Merlin sighed. “Of course I’m sure. That’s not the point.”

            “Then what exactly _is_ the point, Merlin?”

            “They don’t seem to be evil, why can’t you just give them a chance?”

            “Well, Morgana never _seemed_ evil, did she? But now she’s trying to kill me. So forgive me, Merlin if I have a little trouble trusting people these days, let alone two suspiciously behaved strangers!” By the end of his sentence, Arthur was essentially yelling, and Merlin looked at his feet, uncomfortable at the mention of Morgana.

            After a beat of silence, Merlin looked back to Arthur, who looked like he wished he had never brought up his sister. “Just… look, if they didn’t try anything in the woods, why would they try something here, surrounded by people and knights?” Arthur didn’t say anything in response. “Just… think about it, okay?” Merlin said gently.

He then turned and walked away without waiting for a response, leaving Arthur staring after him and running all the things that Merlin had said through his mind, pondering. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter- finally! And this one is much longer than the last (to make it up to you!)  
> Thank you to everyone for reading and as always comments/kudos etc are always extremely appreciated!

The next day as Merlin walked through the courtyard and was greeted by a voice, “Hey, Merlin!”

                It was the girl- Clara. She scurried up to him, beaming. Merlin looked at her curiously, starting to smile himself, “I thought you were locked up?”

                “Arthur let us out… on the condition that we stay here until he can be sure we aren’t a threat to anyone.” Clara explained, sounding like she was confused by and didn’t much care for Arthur’s conditions.

                Merlin grinned happily; Arthur had actually listened to him! “That’s great! I knew he would see sense! So where’s your friend?”

                “Oh, the Doctor?” Clara looked slightly nervous, “He’s um… off exploring…”

                “And that’s a bad thing because?”

                Clara sighed, “Well I told him not to get into any trouble but there’s no telling what he could get up to by himself in a place like this. I should have stayed with him, really, but he just sort of…” She gestured with her hands, “Ran off!”

                Merlin chuckled, “Well, since he’s off exploring, how about I take you on a tour? I’m sure you’d like to see part of the castle other than the jails?”

                Clara grinned at him again and nodded eagerly, but then her face fell for a second, “Don’t you have things to do, though? Like, your job, or something? I shouldn’t keep you from that.”

                Merlin brushed off her concerns, “Don’t be silly, Arthur doesn’t need me _all_ the time. We just won’t take too long. It’ll be a nice break.” Clara’s smiled returned and she happily tailed Merlin when he told her to follow him.

                 Merlin showed Clara every part of the castle from the great hall to the astonishing views from the towers, inciting a lot of questions from Clara, which Merlin was more than happy to answer, even if she did have some strange reactions to some of the things he said. It almost seemed like she was expecting him to say certain things, and was shocked when he said something else.

                One of the strangest reactions of all was when they came across Gwen in the corridors. Merlin introduced them, “Clara, this is my friend Gwen. Gwen, this is Clara, she’s a traveller.”

                Gwen smiled kindly, “Nice to meet you! So, where have you come from?”

                Clara froze, “Um… London.” She smiled nervously, hoping she didn’t sound as panicked as she felt. What was she supposed to say? She didn’t know where anything was in the twelfth century. She wasn’t even entirely sure where Camelot was; given that she had always considered it a fictional place, she never had the need to consider it.

                Gwen frowned, “Is that nearby? I’ve never heard of it.”

                Clara took a deep breath, “Well… it’s quite far away… so…” she trailed off. Clara had never been a good liar, especially not under pressure.

                But Gwen didn’t seem suspicious. “It must’ve taken you a long time to get here then.” Gwen commented, “What brings you to Camelot?”

                As friendly as Gwen was being, Clara did wish she would stop asking questions. “Well, I’m here with my friend… um… we’ve just sort of been wandering about… we didn’t really come here specifically… but I do like it here.”

                “I guess I’ll see you around then!” Gwen smiled friendlily again and Clara inwardly sighed with relief as this appeared to be the end of the questioning and smiled back at her. Gwen turned to look at Merlin, “Have you seen Lancelot?” Clara’s eyes almost popped out. “I can’t find him anywhere!”

                Merlin frowned, “No, sorry.”

                Gwen sighed, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with him! Well I best be off, knights don’t just find themselves!”

                She started to walk away and Merlin called a farewell after her. It was only then that Clara’s mind clicked into place, “Wait, so she’s Gwen?! As in, Guinevere?”

                Merlin looked at her strangely, “Well yeah. She used to be a servant here.”

                Clara’s brain was starting to do somersaults. “And now?”

                “She’s married to Lancelot, one of Arthur’s knights.”

                Clara frowned, “But that’s not right…” she muttered, more to herself than anything. Everything here was… dodgy.

                Merlin raised an eyebrow at her, “Sorry?”

                Clara remembered the Doctor’s caution.  She needed to be more careful about how she reacted to these things- Merlin seemed to already be getting a bit suspicious. It was just that she loved the Arthurian legends and knew all the stories but now that she was actually in Camelot it was nothing like she expected. Clara recomposed her thoughts and looked up at Merlin, smirking, she hoped, convincingly, “Just that I wish I could marry a knight! I mean, how cool would that be?”

                Merlin didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he let the suspicion slide from his face and put it to the back of his mind. “Well the Doctor seems very brave, lots of knightly qualities.” He smirked back at her.

                Clara raised her eyebrows, “Um… he’s not… I mean, we’re not, like…” She became flustered and started to trip over her own words, much to Merlin’s amusement.

                “I was only joking! I was actually going to try to introduce you to some of my friends who are knights, but like Gwen said, I have no idea where any of them are. It’s strange, you can usually see them around at this time of day…” Merlin shrugged. “It’s probably for the best anyway. It would likely just be Gwaine flirting with you and the others making bets about whether or not he’ll be successful.”

                Clara wasn’t sure how to respond to that, “Um…”

                Her face must have looked very confused because Merlin laughed, “Don’t worry, they’re all perfectly nice. You’ll probably meet them at some point anyway, if you have to stay here for a while.”

                Clara nodded, “I have no idea how long we’re going to be here! It’s quite inconvenient really, we didn’t even mean to end up in Camelot, but I guess we may as well enjoy it while we’re here.”

                Merlin nodded and continued to lead her around the castle, pointing things out along the way, until they eventually ended up in Gaius’ chambers. “So this is Gaius, the court physician’s chambers, and my room is right through there… so that’s basically every-“ Merlin was cut off by a strange, loud noise from outside the window. He stopped mid-sentence and frowned.

                He went to the window and the side of the room, opened it and looked out onto the courtyard below. Clara joined him and gasped at what they saw: it was the Doctor engaged in combat with a large sheep. “ _What_ is he doing?!”

                Clara shook her head in disbelief, “I don’t have a clue. Absolutely no idea.”

                They watched the events unfold for a while- the sheep was a considerable opponent for the Doctor- and then walked away from the window.

                Clara sighed, “I did tell him not to cause any mayhem…” she said apologetically.

                Merlin chuckled , “Arthur is not going to be happy if he sees this…”

                Clara’s looked momentarily panicked, “What do you mean? Do you think he’d put us back in jail?”

                “Don’t worry, he probably won’t even notice what’s going on.”

                “But what if he does?! He’s already angry at us… even though I’m not too sure why.” Clara grimaced.

                “He thinks that you’re sorcerers because your box appeared randomly in the middle of the forest.” Merlin explained matter-of-factly.

                “And what about you?”

                “I don’t know.” Merlin half lied. He was well aware of the fact that there was no magic involved in their contraptions, but he didn’t have any explanation for it either.

                “So… Arthur doesn’t like magic?” Clara asked curiously.

                “You didn’t get that from yesterday? He despises it. It’s outlawed here.” Merlin’s words had suddenly become sharper, the ends of his sentences clipped.

                “And _you’re_ his best friend?!”

                Clara didn’t realise what she’d said until it came out of her mouth. She froze, not looking at Merlin.

                After a long stretched out silence, during which Clara wished the ground would open up and take her anywhere but here, Merlin finally responded. “ _What_ is that supposed to mean?!”

                “Nothing.” Clara blurted out as quickly as possible, formulating some kind of excuse in her mind, “Actually I should go make sure my friend isn’t in too much trouble.”  She quickly turned to the door, too scared to even glance at Merlin as she did so, but as soon as she tried to take a step towards the exit, Merlin was between the two.

                “You’re not going anywhere until I have some answers!”

                Clara hesitantly opened her mouth and blinked. No sound came out. She didn’t know what to say; her mind was racing, filtering through all the possible explanations for the thoughtless question she had let fall out of her mouth, but nothing seemed to fit. Was she supposed to tell the truth, or make up yet another excuse? The Doctor would be furious that she had disregarded his warning.

                She closed her mouth. There was no fixing this now.

                Merlin raised his eyebrows dubiously, “Well?”

                Clara bit the inside of her lip and took a shot, “I didn’t mean anything by it. It was just a question, that’s all.”

                Merlin didn’t buy it for one second. “No, I know what you meant. And then there’s yesterday when you almost said something about me being a wizard!”

                “I-I didn’t…”

                “What do you know? And how?!” Merlin’s voice was gradually rising with anger and suspicion. “Where have you even come from?! I’ve never met you before in my entire life! How could you possibly know anything about me- about Arthur?!”

                “I… can’t tell you.” Clara finally spoke, making her decision. Merlin may be a sorcerer but there was limited to no chance of him believing her if she told the truth: she had time travelled from the future, where his life is a legend. Oh, and her friend battling the sheep happened to be an alien.

                “Oh, well isn’t that convenient!”

                Clara spoke in a small, scared whisper, “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

                “Well you better not because if you do, Arthur will have my head on a spike. I convinced him to let you out of jail; I just as easily get you thrown back in.” Merlin said darkly.

                “Wait, _you_ got us out?” Clara’s voice was still soft, not wanting to provoke Merlin any further, but at the same time very curious.

                “Yes, I did. But I’m starting to regret it now.”

                Before Clara could ask him why he helped them, the door behind Merlin’s back clunked open and Arthur made an appearance. “Merlin!” he called, “There you are!”

                Clara, feeling increasingly awkward, made her way towards the door. “Well, I should go see if I can find the Doctor…” she said as she left, Merlin glaring at her until the door was closed once again.

                Arthur’s eyes also followed Clara out the door, and once she was gone her turned to Merlin, saw the look on his face and frowned. “What’s up with you?”

                Merlin looked at him, “What do you mean?”

                “Well you look all moody! I would have thought you’d be happy! After all, I did release your little girlfriend from the prisons.”

                “I already told you, I _don’t_ like her.”

                “It seems that you like her enough to have a hushed conversation alone in a room with her…”

                Merlin sighed, “I was just showing her around.” Arthur didn’t look entirely convinced, but Merlin was not in the mood for his jokes. “What do you want anyway?”

                “There’s no need to get stroppy, Merlin. I was just looking for you so I could tell you that you were right about The Doctor and Clara, I should have listened to you.”

                Merlin was suspicious. Arthur wasn’t exactly one to be nice to him, “What’s the catch?”

                “Just that I’m holding you personally responsible for them while they’re here and if something goes horrifically wrong as a result of your actions-”

                “You’ll have my head?” Merlin guessed.

                Arthur grinned at him, “Spot on! Now come on, my boots need polishing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh... and I have a surprise for you readers in a couple of days!


	5. What the Doctor did in Camelot- Bonus Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a bonus chapter than anything- to tide you over until the next chapter is up!  
> Practically 100% of the credit for this goes to the wonderful Phoebmonster!  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy it!

The Doctor careered out of the door and down the stairs. He landed and quickly picked himself back up again. Brushing his jacket indignantly, the Doctor started to walk towards the market. Outside the courtyard at the front of the castle, a winding road led down outside the city walls. The road was lined with colourful market, stalls selling everything from medicine to spices; cloth to chickens. Vendors were loudly advertising their wares, locals chatted and bartered and animals filled the air with a cacophony of noise.  The Doctor dived into the bustling market, all annoyance at Merlin and Arthur forgotten. He sniffed spices, poked animal cages and ran his hand down the cloth, never staying long enough to buy anything.

He was walking backwards when his legs connected with a fence and he fell into a pen of disgruntled sheep. As he righted himself, the Doctor's foot knocked the latch and the pen opened. There was a split second as the door creaked before the sheep realised what was happening. Then they ran, pouring over each other in a full frontal bid for freedom. They ran as a flock up to the main square, the Doctor trying desperately to get to the front to stop them. Locals leapt aside, crates were toppled and the owner of the sheep yelled obscenities at the bedraggled Doctor.

In the main square, the sheep slowed as castle guards started to round them up. The Doctor tried to placate a particularly angry sheep with his screwdriver. Unfortunately, this seemed to anger the sheep and he rammed straight into the Doctors chest. He doubled over and fell onto the cobbles, his back connecting with a crack. The Doctor leapt up with one arm outstretched and his hand balled in a fist, ready to fight. The other hand was pressed against his back, hiding the tendrils of energy which repaired his cracked spine.

He was balanced precariously on the tips of his toes and he had become acutely aware that a large number of locals whom he had annoyed gathering around to watch him. The sheep charged again and the Doctor leapt nimbly out of the way, grimacing as his spine grated in protest. Some of the locals had started to cheer, whether it was for the sheep or himself he did not know.

As the Doctor circled the furious animal, he saw the owner of the sheep step forward with a face like thunder. He was carrying a large shearing knife and the Doctor decided to admit defeat. He ran, with as much force as he could, to a pile of barrels at the far end of the courtyard. He climbed the barrels nimbly and hopped onto the wall at the top. The crowd was surging at his feet, with cries of "Thief!" and "Vandal!"

 At its head was the sheep owner, shaking his knife menacingly. "He released my sheep, the bastard! Get him!"

The Doctor gulped, scurried forwards, lost his balance and promptly fell down the other side of the wall. He seemed to fall the 15 feet to the ground very quickly, and as he hit the ground, he blacked out.

The Doctor's eyes fluttered as he woke up to find a little girl standing over him. "Are you okay, mister? You took quite the fall ... mister?"  She had long blonde hair which was drawn into two plaits, tied hastily with string. She wasn't wearing any shoes. The girl looked very confused as she gently kicked the Doctor on the arm.

The Doctor sat up suddenly and went a little dizzy as golden sparks danced across his eyes. He stood up gingerly, wiggling his limbs as the energy dissipated. The girl looked very confused.

The Doctor turned to face her, putting on his best 'I promise I'm not a madman' face. "Ah. Hello there. I'm the Doctor - who are you?"

The girl pursed her lips and eyed the Doctor suspiciously. "I'm Chrissie. But what kind of name is ‘Doctor’? Didn't your ma give you a real name?"

The Doctor bristled and matched her hostile stance. "Well what kind of a name is Chrissie?"

"Well it's short for Christina - it's the best name ever... Better than yours anyway."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and admitted defeat. "Okay, Chrissie, can you help me get back inside the city? I promised Arthur I ..."

The Doctor was cut short by an excited gasp from Chrissie. "What, King Arthur? You've met the King? Really?! What’s the castle like?"

The Doctor prodded her in the shoulder, smiling. "How about you get me in the city walls? Then I'll tell you all about the castle."

Chrissie considered it for a minute, then spat on her hand and stuck it out. "Swear on your best friend’s life?"

The Doctor nodded solemnly and shook her little hand. "I swear."

Together they started to walk down the dirt path. The pair pressed up to the cold stone of the city walls, keeping out of sight. At the entrance to the city, a bridge spanned a moat with two guard towers either side. The Doctor popped his head round the side of the tower but quickly pulled it back again. The entrance to the city was being guarded by stony faced soldiers. "Ah. Seems they've pushed up security from me and Clara being let out..."

Chrissie gasped. "You were in the dungeons?" The Doctor shushed her but Chrissie carried on muttering under her breath. "You didn't say Arthur captured you! My pa would have a fit if he knew I was harbouring a fugitive..."

The Doctors response was cut short by a strangled cry from the bank of the moat. The pair ran down as quickly as they could and Chrissie cried out as she saw what was happening. They slid down the slope to find a gaggle of children and an overturned cart. In the centre of the children was a little boy who was crying and cradling his ankle. "Danny! What happened?"

The tallest of the kids let out a shaky breath. "We were just pulling the cart up to the market when a load of crazy sheep ran down. I lost my balance and the cart fell in the moat - Reggie was in the cart, he's busted his ankle."

The Doctor knelt down by the little boy and pressed at the ankle gently. The boy let out a strangled cry and the Doctor shot his hands away. "Hey, it's okay. I'm the Doctor - and I'm going to have to pop your ankle back in okay? It's going to really hurt, so I need you to be brave."

The boy nodded solemnly and Chrissie knelt down to hold his hand. The Doctor tore a strip from the bottom of his shirt and gently grasped the ankle, pushing it back into place. The boy screamed and the Doctor quickly bound up the ankle with his shirt, adding a tendril of golden energy to soothe the pain. "All done. You'll be fine after a few days."

The boy nodded and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. The Doctor sprang up, twirling to look at each of the children in turn. Chrissie stayed next to the little boy but stood up to. "Doctor, these are all the kids from 'round here.” She pointed to each of them in turn, introducing them, and the Doctor bowed to the group.

"Well, I have a proposition. If you lot help get me back into the city, I'll pay to cover the cost of the cart."

Danny narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "How much do you have?"

The Doctor pulled a bag from his pocket and the children looked inside with wonder. "About 150 gold coins."

He replied smugly. Danny was about to grab the money but he stopped suddenly. "Wait, but how do we get you inside? There are guards!"

“Don’t worry, I have a plan!"

A while later, the guards spotted a cart being pulled by four kids, two others sat in the hay on the cart, make its way into the city. The guards dropped their pikes across the entrance and the kids stopped, obviously very tired and covered in mud.

"Is there a problem, sir?" said Danny nonchalantly. The guard adjusted his helmet and yawned loudly.

"We've got a troublemaker around - released loads of sheep and escaped from the soldiers."

All the children gasped and looked suitably shocked. "We had some trouble with sheep earlier, didn't we? Well, if you catch the guy, give them a good thrashing, yeah?"

The guard laughed and stuck his thumbs under his belt. "Yeah, of course." Danny tried to walk forward but the guard stopped him. "Oh no you don't! I've been ordered to search every cart that enters or leaves 'ere, including yours."

The children stiffened and Chrissie spoke up from in the cart. "You don't want to do that. Checking our cart would take ages - it's full of hay. You should just let us through."

The guards shrugged lazily at each other and moved aside slowly. As soon as the pikes were gone, the children started to pull the cart at a run, and soon they were well inside the city walls.

The Doctor popped up from the mass of hay and grinned broadly. "Thanks! You guys were brilliant! Now, take good care of yourselves and Reggie - don't walk on the ankle for a few days. It should heal right up after that." The Doctor hopped out the cart and waved goodbye as the kids ran with it back up the main market square.

The Doctor turned to go but saw Chrissie sitting in the corner, staring at him oddly. He went and sat next to her. "So - you've got magic."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact and the little girl nodded slightly nervously. “The others know but they don't really mind - I can't do a whole lot anyway. I just sort of see things…”

 The Doctor smiled. "That's how you knew to trust me isn't it? You can see things others can't."

Chrissie nodded. "I can see lots of things ... I know Clara - your best friend - is the most important person to you. But you have to understand, she's in terrible danger ... I got you back into the city so you could help her. Please, go!"

The Doctor looked dumbfounded, but quickly sprang back into action. He hugged Chrissie and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Thank you!" he said, grinning as he jumped up and started to run back up to the castle.

Chrissie waved and smiled but as soon as he was out of sight, she let out a shaky breath. She knew Clara was in more danger than she'd let on, but she couldn't bear to break the news to the Doctor.

The Doctor pelted up the main market road, his limbs flailing and his shirt tails flying. Several stall holders recognised him and shouted, alerting the various knights meandering around. The knights drew their swords and started to chase the mud covered Doctor, up the market street and into the main square. The Doctor jumped up the stairs to the main castle entrance as the knights were stopped by several angry and disgruntled sheep. The Doctor threw open the doors and dived inside, slamming the huge doors behind him. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised it had been far, FAR too long since I'd updated this! This chapter sets the stage for where the action really starts, so watch this space!  
> I hope you enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to leave comments/kudos as they are always much appreciated!

“ _What_ the _hell_?!” Arthur roared at the sight before him.

                He and Merlin had not managed to reach his chambers and his boots were going to have to wait for now.

                Standing in front of them, next to a humiliated-looking Clara, was the Doctor, covered in hay and with the bottom of his shirt ripped and fraying, looking sheepish. “Ah, well you see, I may have angered some sheep and their villagers.”

                “ _What?!_ ”

                “Well I accidently let a flock of sheep out and got into a fight with them and then-” The Doctor explained innocently, only to be cut off before he could finish his brilliant story.

                “ _What_ part of staying _out_ of trouble do you not understand?”

                “Well I didn’t do it on purpose!”

                Arthur sighed deeply and dropped his head into his hand, turning slightly away from the Doctor as he pulled a few strands of hay out of his dishevelled hair.

                “I’m really sorry, Arthur. I’ll try to keep an eye on him from now on.” Clara bit her lip, sighing too. She glared at the Doctor as she spoke.

                Arthur’s hand detached from his face and he raised his eyebrows at Clara, “Well I’m glad someone around here as some sense of responsibility. Merlin! Take them both to help the sheep owner clear things up and find his sheep. Tell him that they have a royal pardon _this one_ time.”

                “Yes, sire.”

                It took an exhausting four hours and three arguments to round up the sheep and wrangle them back into their pen. The sheep owner started to scream as soon as they approached, and still looked like a puffed up beetroot by the time the situation was explained by Merlin. As they searched for the missing sheep, Merlin avoided Clara as much as possible and only spoke to her when absolutely necessary. His anger was calming down, and it having to deal with the sheep problem distracted him from overthinking the situation, but he was still frustrated and incredibly suspicious.

                There was not a single reason why Merlin should trust Clara, and he had learned the painful way that people are almost never as sweet and innocent as they seem. Then there was the question of how could she _possibly_ have found out in the first place? And if she knew about his magic, did her friend know? One thing was for certain, these people seemed incredibly hesitant to explain anything whatsoever. But it wasn’t exactly as if there was anything he could do about it, since he’d gone out of his way to get rid of Arthur’s suspicions, and he could hardly explain everything.

                Merlin gritted his teeth as he rounded the last sheep back into the pen and closed the latch. The sheep owner huffed in begrudging approval and they all apologised once more, relieved that the whole ordeal was over.

                “So what now?” Clara spoke, sounding tired yet still bright. She spoke to Merlin almost as if their… disagreement earlier hadn’t happened… but there were still hints of reservation in her tone. Almost as if she were scared, but not of Merlin, as if she had done something with more disastrous consequence than angering Merlin.

                A stroke of nervousness passed over Clara before Merlin’s response. What if he brought it up?

                Merlin shrugged, “I guess we just go back to the Castle… and clean ourselves up.” With a glance at the trio, anyone could tell they’d just been working hard. The Doctor’s already scruffy attire was now coated in a layer of grime, as was all of his visible skin. Clara, who had been coordinated enough to _not_ fall over in the dirt several times, was looking astonishingly neat and un-muddied. She was fairly ruffled, but at least she didn’t have hay sticking out of her hair… and hadn’t been stepped on by more than one sheep.

                As they headed back to the castle, the Doctor and Clara walked several paces behind Merlin, out of earshot.

                “He’s a bit prickly today, isn’t he?” The Doctor speculated.

                Clara raised her eyebrows innocently, “Is he? He was fine earlier, he even showed me around Camelot. It seems like a nice place.” Okay, so she wasn’t lying, was she? At it seemed like a convenient way to change the subject. Clara freely admitted to herself as soon as those stupid words had slipped out of her mouth- she was worried about what the Doctor would say when he found out she’d let it slip. He’d made it unmistakably clear that she wasn’t to say anything about what she knew, there was no doubt that he’d be angry at her and that wasn’t something she particularly fancied facing. She knew the Doctor, she had witnessed his anger before and it was always something she was glad to not be on the receiving end of it.

                But as she knew the Doctor, he knew her. “What’s wrong, Clara?”

                “What? Nothing. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

                “You are a bad liar, Clara Oswald. You’re obviously concerned about _something_ and it’s most certainly not the sheep.”

                Clara was silent for several footfalls, highly aware of their fairly close proximity to Merlin, and the other townspeople around, so she said in a low voice. “I’ll explain later.”

                ~

                “Clara, what’s going on?”

                They were back in the castle in the room they had been provided with, having cleaned up. Since his other clothes had been effectively wrecked, the Doctor was now wearing a medieval tunic, which Clara would probably be giggling at if he didn’t currently look so concerned about her.

                “I’m sorry!”

                A look of realisation dawned on the Doctor’s face and he frowned down at her. “You said something.”

                “I’m sorry,” Clara repeated desperately, “I didn’t mean to, it just slipped out…”

                “How?! No, never mind, that doesn’t matter. What happened? _Please tell me you did not say anything to Arthur!”_

                “I didn’t!” The Doctor’s relief was evident. “I was talking to Merlin and I didn’t even realise what I’d said until he got angry with me. I’ll watch what I say from now on, I promise!”

                “Okay… okay…” The Doctor noticed the panic on Clara’s face and the anxious tears welling up in her eyes and pulled her into a tight hug before they could fall, “It’ll be okay. We can fix this, don’t worry.”

                “You’re not mad at me?”

                “Merlin has far more important things to worry about. If you’d spoken to anyone else we would be in a lot more trouble… but I think we’ll be okay. If we get out of here soon they might just forget we were ever here!”

                Clara pulled away and looked at him sceptically, “ _That’s_ your plan?”

                “What’s wrong with that plan? I’ve done it before and it’s worked out okay!”

                They laughed together and any tension quickly slipped away, but Clara couldn’t help still feeling bad about what she’d done- the Doctor had specifically told her not to say a single word. Eventually she just decided that she needed some air, and went for “just a quick walk.”

                The Doctor, having had an incredibly long day, and personally never wanting to see another sheep again in his entire life, drifted off to sleep just as dusk faded away into the night.

                ~

                The next day he burst into Arthur’s chambers, looking specifically for Merlin. The King and his Servant both started at him in confusion, “What the-”Arthur began to question the seriously distressed looking man.

                Sounding strangled, the Doctor answered the question before it was asked.

                “Clara’s gone.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!

The darkness choked her. She couldn’t see anything but the swirling blackness attacking her eyes; couldn’t hear anything except her own, rugged, laboured breathing. There was a sharp, cutting pressure on her wrists and a dull throbbing that had worked its way from her forehead and roosted in the middle of her head. She wondered if that was blood she could feel trickling down the left side of her face.

                She had no idea where she was. She had no idea how long she had been there. She had no idea who that crazed woman had been and above all she had no idea why or how she had come to be in this place!

                The last thing Clara remembered was going for a walk. It was dim when she’d gone out, but she figured she’d be back before dusk and certainly before it got properly dark. In fact it was only just fading to dusk when she’d decided to head back- she’d cleared her head and felt much better now.

                But then it all happened at once. There was the sound of footsteps behind her and she whirled around to see a woman. A woman who looked both terrified and terrifying, a woman who looked like her soul had been crushed and now remained shattered inside her being. The woman sneered at her, and with a flick of her wrist and a spark in her eyes, Clara was sent flying. Then there was a thud and everything went dark.

                And now she was here.

                ~

                Really, you would think it would be much more difficult to get in to Camelot unseen, let alone be there for a whole day. For such a big and mighty city, the guards really did do quite a pathetic job.

                She didn’t have much of a plan at the moment. Obviously the goal was to get rid of Arthur- but how to do that with Emrys still plaguing her? What she really needed was information, or a way to lure Arthur out of the safety of his beloved city, how to make sure that Emrys could not help him this time. The girl, at best, could provide her with both of these things. She’d seen her interacting with her brother and his serving boy- she may possess some knowledge of what is happening in the City- they may even come looking for her, if she was lucky. At worst, dealing with the girl would be good stress relief.

                ~

                Clara was drifting in and out of consciousness. She really had no way to estimate how long she’d been here- though her dried out throat told her that it had been quite some time. She wondered if the Doctor had noticed she was missing yet, if he was out searching for her. But she did know that, one way or another, he would come through for her. He’d never let her down before, there was no doubt in her mind that he would at least attempt to save her.

                She refused to acknowledge the fact that, at this rate, she could be dead before he found her.

                She had summoned the energy to lift one of her hands to her head. The action created a clunking sound, and her arm was far heavier than it should have been. The left side of her face was warm and wet with her own blood.

                She simply didn’t have the energy to keep herself alert. She couldn’t count how many times she had drifted away, and couldn’t know how long she’d been out each time. For all she knew, it could have been days. She briefly wondered why she was there, and why the woman wasn’t just killing her already.

                When a crack of light appeared in the darkness, Clara blinked herself into alertness and forced herself to focus. She sat up from the wall she was awkwardly slumped against as the crack widened.

                The initial feeling inside Clara’s chest was fear- where was this odd light coming from?! Though through her drowsiness she soon realised that it was a door and was relieved- there _was_ a way out of this hell! But the fear quickly rushed back as in the light appeared a silhouette. It was that woman.

                She took a few steps into the room and looked around for a few moments. “Dark in here, isn’t it?” Then a sharp orange spark from her eyes and a torch on the wall burst into warm orange flames, illuminating the room with its flickering light. “That’s better. Now I can see you.”

                And Clara could see her too, properly this time instead of just a glimpse. Beauty had been tainted by anger and hatred; eyes had turned stone cold, showing not even a glint of kindness or remorse. But this was no ordinary person- this was a sorceress, no doubt a powerful one… Clara could not help but to compare her to Merlin, who had been warm and friendly and kind to her.

                ~

                Morgana eyed up the girl before her. She was young- couldn’t be much more than twenty- and pretty… At least she was before she had spent nearly a day in a dungeon. Now her clothing and skin were torn, and she looked like she was fighting to maintain the energy to sit up. Dried blood had gathered on the left side of her face and had soaked into her dress from a gaping gash in her forehead caused by the collision with the stone ground earlier. Manacles scraped the delicate skin of her wrist while keeping her chained to the cobblestone wall. The girl was small and weak. Morgana didn’t suppose that it would take much to break her.

                “So, I see you’ve met my dear brother.”

                A look of confusion crossed the girl’s face. “What?” She croaked, her voice cracking from weariness and dehydration. “I don’t even know who you are, let alone your brother. Sorry, but I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

                Morgana raised her eyes in disbelief, “You _don’t_ know who I am?”

                “Not a clue. I’ve only been here two days; I don’t know what you could possibly want from me to be honest.”

                “Well then, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Morgana.”

                “I’m Clara. I’d say it’s nice to meet you but…” she raised her hands, indicating the shackles, “It really isn’t. And I still have no idea who your brother is.”

                Hm. This girl- Clara- didn’t appear to be as pathetic as she looked: she had some guts. This could be interesting…

                ~

                Morgana… the name rung a bell inside Clara’s head… was she was too woozy to make anything of it.

                She figured that all she could do right now was keep talking. It wasn’t like she was going to snivel in a corner like a Damsel in Distress, waiting for someone to rescue her. Not that a rescue would be unappreciated, but obviously she had to do whatever she could to help herself out of this mess, even if she wasn’t sure what her tactics were at this point.

                “Well, let me clarify. I’m Morgana. Pendragon.”

                Sudden realisation dawned across Clara’s grimy face. “You’re King Arthur’s sister?!”

                “Unfortunately. Now…” She crouched down right in front of Clara, so close that they could feel the other’s breath on their faces. “What can you tell me of the mighty Camelot these days?”

                “N-nothing.” Clara stammered, despite herself. She was trying not to show all the fear that was welling up in her chest, but she couldn’t help it. She had no idea what Morgana wanted from her; what was she expecting Clara to say? It was dawning on her that there was now a terrifyingly real possibility of her being killed by someone who, up until yesterday, she had believed to be nothing more than some kind of fairy-tale character.

                “I see. Well, maybe this will help convince you otherwise.” Morgana sneered icily.

                Her eyes flashed bright gold and Clara screamed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weheey- a new chapter! There's going to be a lot more action in the coming chapters, I promise! But until then, enjoy this one! And please remember to leave kudos/comments if you like it- it really means a lot!

“ _Gone_? What do you mean _gone?_ ”

                The Doctor glowered at the King, a switch flipping inside him, “What do you _think_ I mean?! It’s a word- GONE! Do you need a dictionary? She’s _not here!_ ”

                Merlin and Arthur exchanged a confused look, wondering how they were supposed to react to this outburst. Before either of them could ask what the hell a ‘dictionary’ was, the Doctor was talking again, explaining the situation.

                “I can’t find her.” He spoke more calmly this time, “She went out before I fell asleep and she wasn’t there when I woke up. I’ve looked all around the castle and around the grounds, and I can’t find her. I have no idea where she could possibly be or why but she’s _very_ important to me and I’m _very_ worried about her, so I need your help.” As he said this he looked directly at Merlin, who didn’t meet his gaze.

                Merlin looked from the aggravated Doctor to Arthur, who was looking at him as if expecting him to say something, and then back again. Indifferently, he said, “That’s not our problem.”

                Arthur frowned, shocked at how cold Merlin was being. It was very out of character for him, usually Merlin was so kind and willing to help almost anyone, stranger or not. It seemed especially odd given that Merlin had only the other day been the person trying so hard to convince Arthur to let this girl and her friend out of jail.

                The Doctor’s eyes widened in anger, “ _Not your problem?!_ “ Merlin shrugged aloofly. Exasperatedly, the Doctor looked to Arthur, “What about you?”

                “To be honest, I’m afraid I’m not sure there’s a lot we can do to help you. I don’t know the girl-”

                “Clara, her name is Clara.”

                “Right, sorry. I don’t know Clara and I don’t know where she could possibly have gone. Maybe she didn’t like being confined to the city and just… left?” he suggested.

                “Nope,” the Doctor disregarded that idea immediately, “She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t go without me. Don’t wander off: rule one!”

                “How can you be so sure?” Arthur asked, slightly baffled by how fast and erratically the Doctor was speaking, and how everything had become so much stranger since his appearance.

                “Because she can’t leave without me! He snapped, “That box we arrived in is mine, and it’s not overly keen on Clara, probably wouldn’t take her anywhere even if Clara had run out on me, which she hasn’t because she’s Clara and she doesn’t do things like that!” As more and more words tumbled out of his mouth, they became harsher and harsher. “Someone has got her right now, and I’ll be dammed if I’m just going to stand here and do nothing. You are _only_ people who can help me, and if it’s _not your problem,_ ” he spoke directly to Merlin, “then I will make it your problem.”

                “You can’t threaten my servant like that!” Arthur demanded loudly. “You may not be from these parts, but you are in my kingdom. I’m the King here, and if you want any help with your friend then you will show me- _and Merlin-_ some respect!”

                The Doctor stared at Arthur, almost defiantly, until he finally said, “My apologies, sire. It won’t happen again.”

                Arthur nodded, “Good. Now, I’m sorry but I’m not sure what there is that we can do to help Clara. I will think about it, but I’m not making any promises. For now, I think you should go.”

                The Doctor wanted to protest, he wanted to kick up a fuss and _make_ them help Clara, but by doing that he would surely only find himself back in jail, and that would be even worse for Clara. Instead, he respectfully left the room, feeling rather defeated.

                As the door swung shut behind the odd man, Arthur put his head in his hands and sighed.

                “Didn’t know you cared that much.” Merlin teased, pouring him a drink.

                Arthur looked up at Merlin, “What?”

                Merlin smirked, “Nothing… just that you seemed to get pretty angry when he was threatening me…” he goaded.

                “Oh, so you are back to your old, annoying self then?”

                “What do you mean?”

                “’Not our problem’? That wasn’t like you. You normally help everyone you see, whether they ask for it or not!”

                Merlin shrugged coyly, “Yeah, well…” It wasn’t like he could explain to Arthur why he was so adverse to Clara and the Doctor all of a sudden. “It wasn’t really like there is anything we can do anyway.” He said, drawing the attention away from his odd behaviour.

                Arthur shrugged, “I know. If there were any kind of clues then maybe we could help, but he said there was absolutely no trace of her. I’m not sure what he thinks we would be able to do.”

                --

                The Doctor trudged away despairingly. He needed to help her, he had to, but how could he when he didn’t have any way of knowing where she was or who might’ve taken her? He couldn’t even know if she was still alive. He’d never been this clueless before. What would anyone want with Clara? His only plan had been to enforce help from Merlin and Arthur, but that hadn’t exactly gone swimmingly.

                He wandered through the village, eyes open for any sign of any hint of Clara. He found himself near the sheep pen which he had so ungracefully disturbed yesterday. The sheep didn’t seem too traumatised by his escapades… the Doctor on the other hand, was no longer very fond of sheer. He turned and started walking in the opposite direction, but then he heard quick, light footsteps approaching him. “Doctor!”

                It was the little girl from yesterday.

                “Chrissie!” the Doctor said in surprise, “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”  He noticed the anxious look on her young face, “What’s wrong?”

                “Clara… your friend in the pretty blue dress?” Chrissie started out hesitantly.

                “Yes? She’s gone missing. Have you seen her?”

                Chrissie stammered a moment and then finally burst out tearfully, “I warned you! I told you she was in danger! Why didn’t you listen?!”

                The Doctor suddenly remembered Chrissie’s warning from yesterday. Admittedly, he’d pushed it to the back of his mind, not because he didn’t believe her, but because there hadn’t seemed to be any imminent threat to Clara, especially not if she was just going out for a walk.

                When the Doctor said nothing, Chrissie frowned even more, “No one listens to me! It’s because I’m young, isn’t it?”

                The Doctor crouched down so that he was on Chrissie’s level and carefully said, “Can you tell me everything you know? It’s very important.”

                Chrissie nodded and launched into her story, “I was lying in bed because I couldn’t sleep and then someone with magic came past and…”

                “How do you know that they had magic?”

                Chrissie turned her head, looking around to make sure that no one around them could hear and quietly whispered, “I could feel it. So I went and looked out of the window and there was this lady in all dark clothes who hurt your friend and took her away!”

                Chrissie sounded very distressed, so the Doctor tried to assure her that everything would be alright, “You don’t need to be worried, nothing bad will happen, okay? I’ll make sure of it. Thanks to you I can find my friend now.”

                Chrissie nodded shakily, “Oh, one more thing. You need to be really careful. I don’t know who that lady was, but I know she’s really dangerous.”

                “Okay. I’ll be careful, I promise.” The Doctor smiled warmly at the child.

                Chrissie smiled back. “Good! Well, I should probably get back to my ma now, I think she’s wondering where I am… good luck finding Clara!”

                Chrissie ran off as quickly as she had appeared. The Doctor realised that, evidently, there was a definite upside to the sheep incident after all- Chrissie. She was such a sweet little girl, although it must be so difficult for her to be growing up in a land where she has to hide who she is, and has to deal with it all by herself. She seemed tough though, and the Doctor hoped that she would be okay. If- _when_ \- he found Clara, he would have to remember to tell Chrissie, to thank her. All thanks to her, now he had at least an idea about what had happened to Clara. And if there was magic involved then surely Merlin and Arthur had to listen.


End file.
